Transparent dial



May 2, 1967 H. F. EDWARDS TRANSPARENT DIAL Filed Oct. 19, 1964 DV IK. HIVFIHJII( ...0.... E \M .WMU

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. .IIII Illlll United States Patent 3,316,709 TRANSPARENT DIAL Harrison F. Edwards, 266 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, N.Y. 10570 Filed Oct. 19, 1964, Ser. No..404,676 5 Claims. (Cl. 58,-42)

This invention relates to a time compensator for time pieces, such as pocket and wrist watches, and, more particularly, is in the form of an advertising medium which may be given away by airline or railroad personnel, or placed in the packet of instructions usually found in the pocket carried by the rear surface of the back rest of Iairplane seats.

It is cust-omary when traveling long distances, particularly through diiferent time zones, to have it announced by the captain of an aircraft or some of the other personnel upon arrival at ones -destination and before departure from the aircraft what the prevailing time then is at that particular place.

A great many people are constantly traveling through different time zones for various reasons and do not desire to be continually re-setting their pocket or wrist watches to the new time at their point of departure from the railroad or aircraft.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to provide an improved transparent means which may be readily removed from a backing member and secured to the crystal of the pocket or wrist watch of an individual.

It is another object of the invention to provide a device of the type mentioned which will be of such simplified construction that it may be given away as a medium of advertising by an airline or railroad at a very nominal cost.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a flexible backing member which includes intersecting rows of perforations defining at areas adjacent thereto and within which thin transparent membrane-like indiciabearing elements are located and readily sever-able from the flexible backing member by tearing along the lines of demarcation formed by the rows of perforations.

A further object of the invention is to provide the indicia-bearing element in the form of a decalcomania.

Still a further object of the invention is to form the indicia-bearing element in the form of a pressure sensitive means.

The details of the invention, as well as additional objects and advantages, will be clearly understood with -reference to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings employing similar reference numerals to identify the same elements in each of the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of one of the transparent membrane-like indicia-bearing elements;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the manner in which one of the elements is applied to the crystal of a Watch; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the time compensator showing a plurality of supplemental dials secured to a backing member.

Turning now to a description of the figures in the drawing, FIG. l illustrates a front elevational view of a thin transparent element 10 which, although illustrated in the drawing as having a substantially circular perimeter, may be any desired configuration, that is, square, rectangular, etc., and to the surface of which is imprinted by printing, screening or lithographing numerical indicia corresponding to the indicia carried by the dial face of the watch with a pull tab 11 being arranged to project from the perimetry of the element 10 for a purpose that will become apparent later.

Disposed in the center of the supplemental dial there also may be applied in the manner indicated above any sort of advertising media, such as that indicated at 11, and which may include, for example, the name of the company that is providing the time compensator as a gratuity.

The indicia that is applied to the transparent supplemental overlay dial 10 is reversed relative to those numbers which are applied to the dial face of the watch for the reasons now to be explained.

Considering now for a moment the time differential between two remote points, such as New York and Paris, which is six hours, unless the indicia is applied to the overlay or supplemental dial in the manner shown, to realize the full benefit of the teaching of this invention, it will be necessary for one who wears a wrist watch, for example, to remove the watch and turn it around 180 and return it to his wrist.

In FIG. 2 there is illustrated in perspective a wrist watch of standard design, to the dial face of which is applied by any suitable accepted practice the time indicating indicia therefor. In spaced relation to the front or crystallized face of the watch, there is illustrated also in perspective a supplemental transparent membrane-like overlay dial 10 which is shown as having been rotated to allow for time compensation or correction in the watch dial which would be 'the normal difference in time zone changes, for example, between the East and West coasts of the United States.

Should the traveler who has available one of these compensators be traveling between New York and Paris, he would rotate the overlay or supplemental dial 10 thereof to a position of substantially so that he could apply it to the crystal with the numeral 6, which is imprinted thereon in superposed registration to the 12 which is shown on the dial face of the watch illustrated. Thus, whereas the wearers watch shows it is about 3:00 oclock at the point from which he departed, when the overlay is applied before departing from the aircraft, it will clearly give the time at the place he has arrived as being 9:00 oclock.

In FIG. 3 there is disclosed a substantially flexible or pliable backing member 12, to the surface of which is applied a plurality of thin transparent supplementary dials 10 such as described above.

Watches of ladies and gentlemen are sold in all kinds of styles and sizes. Thus, it is apparent that it will be necessary to provide a variety of sizes of supplementary dials 10 so that a size suitable for application to a ladys small watch, as well as a gentlemans pocket watch which normally has a much larger crystal, will be provided.

It will be noted that each of the overlay dials 10 carries at its perimeter a tab 14 for a purpose now to be explained.

The pliable member 12 may be constructed of a flat, smooth surfaced paperboard or plastic such as polyethylene and to the surface thereof the dials 10 may be afxed by any suitable strippable pressure sensitive adhesives. By providing tabs 14 at the perimeter of the dials, they are removable from their carrying surface with facility and without distortion of the indicia applied thereto.

It is also contemplated that in lieu of using a pressure sensitive adhesive material applied to a thin transparent membrane-like dial member 10 to which indicia is imparted in any preferred manner, a decalcomania transfer may also be utilized for the same purpose.

It is well-known in the decalcomania transfer art to also provide a suitable backing member which may be of paperboard or merely heavy paper to which is applied a water soluble adhesive gum of accepted type, such as dextrin, and over this is applied a sealer and carrier iilim, and thereafter the print comprising the transfer design. When the dial is to -be made of a decalcomania type transfer, instead of a pressure sensitive adhesive supra, the backing member 12 may be scored both transversely as at 15 and longitudinally as `at 16 with intersecting rows of perforations for a purpose now to be explained.

Where it is contemplated to use a pressure sensitive adhesive for the dial member, the paperboard or plastic backing member 12 may or may not be perforated to provide lines of demarcation as described. However, it is particularly advantageous to provide intersecting rows of longitudinal and transversely extending score lines when decalcomanias are used, since the individual dial sought to be used by the person who is given one of these time compensators will be readily severable from the plurality carried by the support member by merely tearing along the lines of demarcation, whereupon he may moisten the individual portion preparatory to placing the decalcomania on the crystal of his watch.

Although only two embodiments of the invention have been depicted and described, it will be apparent that these embodiments are illustrative in nature and that a number of modifications in the apparatus and variations in its end use muy be effected without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A transparent numerical time compensator provided with an adhesive substance on the lower surface thereof for attachment to the exterior surface of a crystal of a timepiece which includes at least hour and minute hands and a iirst clock dial having serially arranged thereon the numerals 1 through 12 and in which the numeral 12 is at the top of the dial and the numeral 6 is positioned in vertical alignment therewith therebeneath at the bottom of the dial, the improvement comprising a simulated second clock dial face constructed of a thin liexible transparent material having upper and lower surfaces, an adhesive on the lower surface, numerically arranged indicia legible when viewed from the upper surface, Isaid indicia being serially arranged from 1 through 12 and so' arranged on the simulated clock dial face to cover the underlying numerals of the rst clock dial thereby permitting application of the transparent membrane-like element to the exterior of the clock crystal to adapt the timepiece for `desired time zone changes Without movement of the hour and minute hands of said timepiece.

2. A transparent numerical time compensator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second clock dial face includes a pull tab means offstanding from the perimeter thereof.

3. A transparent numerical time compensator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second clock dial face is arranged to be supported on a backing member by pressure sensitive adhesive means and removable therefrom for attachment to :said irst clock dial face.

4. A transparent numerical time compensator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the backing member -is cardboard.

5. A transparent numerical time compensator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the backing member is plastic.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,926,553 9/1933 Morse. 2,170,147 8/1939 Lane. 2,213,666 9/1940 Burke 40--2 X 2,434,545 1/1948 Brady 40-2 X 2,509,833 5/1950 Miller 40-337 FOREIGN PATENTS 559,397 8/1957 Belgium. 455,415 5 1923 France.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. 1. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TRANSPARENT NUMERICAL TIME COMPENSATOR PROVIDED WITH AN ADHESIVE SUBSTANCE ON THE LOWER SURFACE THEREOF FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE EXTERIOR SURFACE OF A CRYSTAL OF A TIMEPIECE WHICH INCLUDES AT LEAST HOUR AND MINUTE HANDS AND A FIRST CLOCK DIAL HAVING SERIALLY ARRANGED THEREON THE NUMERALS 1 THROUGH 12 AND IN WHICH THE NUMERAL 12 IS AT THE TOP OF THE DIAL AND THE NUMERAL 6 IS POSITIONED IN VERTICAL ALIGNMENT THEREWITH THEREBENEATH AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DIAL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A SIMULATED SECOND CLOCK DIAL FACE CONSTRUCTED OF A THIN FLEXIBLE TRANSPARENT MATERIAL HAVING UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES, AND ADHESIVE ON THE LOWER SURFACE, NUMERICALLY ARRANGED INDICIA LEGIBLE WHEN VIEWED FROM THE UPPER SURFACE, SAID INDICIA BEING SERIALLY ARRANGED FROM 1 THROUGH 12 AND SO ARRANGED ON THE SIMULTATED CLOCK DIAL FACE TO COVER THE UNDERLYING NUMERALS OF THE FIRST CLOCK DIAL THEREBY PERMITTING APPLICATION OF THE TRANSPARENT MEMBRANE-LIKE ELEMENT TO THE EXTERIOR OF THE CLOCK CRYSTAL TO ADAPT THE TIMEPIECE FOR DESIRED TIME ZONE CHANGES WITHOUT MOVEMENT OF THE HOUR AND MINUTE HANDS OF SAID TIMEPIECE. 